Kindergarten
by dancingthroughlife19
Summary: "Let me get this straight…" Lizzie started, her eyes narrowing at the man still kneeling in front of her. "You were a complete jerk to me… because you liked me? Are we in kindergarten or something? Are you going to pull my hair at the playground tomorrow?" [Modern P&P]
1. Kindergarten

**Kindergarten**

 _"Let me get this straight…" Lizzie started, her eyes narrowing at the man still kneeling in front of her. "You were a complete jerk to me… because you liked me? Are we in kindergarten or something? Are you going to pull my hair at the playground tomorrow?" Lizzie is pretty sure that she woke up in some alternate universe that morning when the bane of her existence, Dr. William Darcy, showed up in her office that morning and asked her out on a date. Someone please wake her up._

* * *

"Don't go out with him."

Lizzie looked up abruptly from her desk, mouth mid-chew and full of apple, to find a disheveled Dr. Darcy breathing heavily in her office. "Excuse me?" She choked out, forgetting to finish chewing her apple as her brain tried to ascertain whether or not she had woken up in what must have been an alternate universe or some sort of hallucination.

"Don't go out with Wickham."

Lizzie swallowed audibly and stared dumbstruck at the pain-in-the-ass that was Dr. William Darcy, the bane of her existence of the better part of her first year at the hospital. Ever since she joined as a Vice President of administration, he had been there arguing with her about her decisions, nagging her constantly for more things for his department, and just being an overall jackass about everything. He was brilliant, really. He was the youngest doctor to be named the head of a department in the history of this hospital, had an amazing bedside manner with patients (he just seemed to conveniently forget about his charm when he was with Lizzie), and was listed as one of America's hottest doctors in People magazine (which Lizzie would have found hilarious if she did not think that the title was a kind of, sort of true).

But aside from the fact that Lizzie was a _tiny_ bit attracted to him (she had eyes, damn it) and _occasionally_ the knowledge of his presence in meetings would push Lizzie to do her very best work (only so she wouldn't have to hear his annoying voice in meetings, though somehow he almost always had some kind of opinion), to her, Dr William Darcy was unequivocally a huge dick. And here he was standing in her office, somehow under the impression that he had a say in her love life.

Lizzie raised an eyebrow, pushing down the irritation that was pulsing through her veins. "Excuse me?"

"Go out to dinner with me instead."

Lizzie's eyes widened as she literally choked on her own spit. As she got a hold of herself and managed to control her coughing (this was decidedly not her best moment), she used this brief reprieve to restart her brain and again ask herself "Where the hell am I?" and "Am I in the Matrix?"

She turned back to Darcy, who had taken the opportunity to run out to get her some water and moved to her side of her desk to pat her on the back.

"Excuse me?" Lizzie said again, as if she had been replaced with a parrot. Her brain had turned to mush (especially with how close he was standing to her), and she was really struggling to pull herself together with his really piercing blue eyes staring into her soul.

Darcy sighed, running a hand through his hair as if he was frustrated with her ineptitude. Lizzie nearly rolled her eyes at him. She was the one whose world had been turned upside down when the man who she was about 99.9% sure despised her showed up in her office and asked her out to dinner. But sure, he was frustrated.

"Look, Wickham is terrible. You don't know him. Please don't go out with him."

That deep, soothing doctor voice did nothing to calm Lizzie's rising anger with him. She wasn't sure how he had heard that Doctor Wickham had asked her out, but she was 100% sure that it was none of his damn business. She was a grown-ass woman and capable of taking care of herself, and she already knew that Doctor Wickham was one of the biggest sleazeballs within the hospital and she wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole. Not that Darcy had any right to that kind of information, given that they weren't friends, or even acquaintances.

Lizzie took a deep breath and summoned up whatever calm that she could so she didn't rip him a new one. "My love life is not any of your business, Darcy. And this is highly unprofessional." Hoping this would knock some sense into him and force him to vacate her office immediately so she could hit her head against her desk and wake up from this bizarre nightmare.

Darcy pinched the bridge of his nose, which she knew he only did when he was extremely frustrated. She had been on the receiving end of this look many times in their meetings.

"I know this is extremely unprofessional, Lizzie, but so was Wickham asking you to go on a date with him. I knew if I didn't speak up I would never forgive myself."

"Speak up… about what?" Lizzie asked hesitantly.

"You must know." Darcy said as he moved to his knees in front of her chair. "Please go out with me." He said softly.

"But… but you hate me!" Lizzie sputtered as she thought of all the times spent in meetings, in her office, and in the hallways of the hospital arguing. "You argue with me all the time about my projects, and complain about how I never approve your department's projects, which by the way, I fucking do, and literally just glare at me ever since I first joined this hospital! Why on earth would you ask me to go out with you?"

Lizzie watched as a blush overtook his cheeks (she had never imagined that she would see him so flustered) as he muttered "fuck" to himself.

"Look, I'm sorry for the way I treated you when you first arrived at the hospital. I wish I could blame it on Caroline Bingley," Lizzie snorted at the mention of her second least favorite person at the hospital, "but really, it was just me having a bad day and being an asshole."

"Bad day? Try bad year." Lizzie muttered before she could control herself.

"I'm sorry that I've been rude to you ever since you arrived." Lizzie looked at him as his voice got softer and his eyes somehow got impossibly bluer. "You're amazing, do you know that? You care so much about patients and this hospital. You command attention in every meeting that you're in, and you always think of everything. You push me to be a better doctor and department head, and I love it when you challenge me."

Lizzie blushed deeply as she tried to awkwardly look away from the earnest way that Darcy was looking at her. "You always get weirdly quiet when people compliment you." He paused, and Lizzie half wanted him to stop but also wanted him to keep talking. She was completely speechless, and that seemed to only ever happen around one William Darcy.

"The first time I had a meeting with you about some equipment my department wanted, you _grilled_ me on all aspects of it. You were so knowledgeable and passionate about your job and you forced me to reevaluate my proposal because you had listed things that I hadn't thought about."

Lizzie smiled slightly, remembering how victorious she felt after standing her ground around the famous William Darcy. "You were _so mad_ at me by the end of that meeting."

Darcy chuckled. "I was. And because I was a complete idiot, I researched the hell out of your opioid project before your meeting with the department heads so that I could question you about your first project."

Lizzie growled. "You asshole."

Darcy sighed. "I'm sorry, Lizzie. I realized later I just really liked seeing you when I pushed your buttons, and when I overheard from Caroline this morning that Wickham had asked you out, I knew that I couldn't just sit back."

"Let me get this straight…" Lizzie started, her eyes narrowing at the man still kneeling in front of her. "You were a complete jerk to me… because you liked me? Are we in kindergarten or something? Are you going to pull my hair at the playground tomorrow?"

"And steal your lunch money. I really want ice cream." As he guffawed at her incredulous expression.

Lizzie gaped at him. "Will Darcy has a sense of humor? Alert People Magazine! America's hottest doctor just got hotter."

Darcy stopped laughing, and Lizzie did a mental victory dance. She knew he absolutely hated that magazine, as he got so much crap for that article.

A sly grin appeared on his face, and Lizzie ignored the little flip her heart did at the sight. "So you think I'm hot?"

Lizzie sputtered, attempting (and failing) to deny that she found William Darcy at all attractive.

"Go out to dinner with me tonight, Lizzie."

Lizzie's tried to think up a witty comeback to his earnest expression, but the only thing that her brain managed to come up with was quiet, "Okay." She couldn't ignore the fact that she got heart palpitations with him so close or that despite the arguments, he pushed her and he admitted that she pushed him to be better.

A wide grin broke out on Darcy's face, as if he was fully expecting her to reject him.

"I get off at 7 PM tonight. Pick me up then?" Lizzie asked before she lost her courage.

"Oh fuck." Lizzie looked at him, alarmed and confused. Her defense mechanism kicked in, half expecting a TV crew to jump out from the hallway and say that she had been punk'd.

"You're going to hate me." Darcy muttered as he rubbed his face with his hands. "My shift just started and I don't get off till tomorrow morning."

Lizzie snorted at the normally very well-put-together man in front of her. "You didn't really think this through, did you?"

Darcy sheepishly responded, "Raincheck till our schedules line up?"

Before she could respond, a loud beeping interrupted them. Lizzie watched as Darcy furrowed his brow at his pager.

"Duty calls?"

He nodded, smiling apologetically at her.

"Go save lives!" She shooed him out of her office, nodding at his "I'll call you!" and gasped when he ran back into her office to kiss her cheek. Before she could respond, he was gone.

Lizzie sat back, staring at her empty office in shock.

And that's how she agreed to go on a date with William Darcy.

* * *

 _A/N: Thanks for reading! Currently a one-shot, but may be convinced to write a bit more in the future._


	2. Elementary

_A/N: Thanks for a great response to the first chapter! I'm definitely planning on at least one more chapter. Let me know what you think!_

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Elementary**

"Excuse me."

Lizzie turned around, only to find that the source of the voice was much closer to the ground than she expected.

"Oh hello!" She exclaimed, bending down to say hello to the little brown-haired girl.

"Are you dating Doctor Darcy?"

Lizzie coughed, nearly falling over at the question. This was _literally_ the last thing she expected out of her day, from a little girl, no less. Lizzie had only told her sister, Jane, about Darcy. How did this little girl already know?!

"I… am not." She sputtered out, completely thrown off guard. _Technically_ , she had yet to go on a date with Darcy since he had run into her office two days ago, so she wasn't _technically_ lying. Even though they had been texting throughout the day since then. "What's your name?" Lizzie asked, eager to take the attention off of herself.

"My name is Katie. I'm in third grade." She answered, still holding the power pose that she had adopted the moment she got Lizzie's attention. Lizzie never thought she could be so intimidated by a little girl, and yet here she was. Add this to the list of crazy things that have happened to her in the past couple days. Her brain again entertained her alternative universe theory. Or alien abduction. Maybe she had hit her head really hard and this was all just a dream?

"Nice to meet you, Katie. My name is Lizzie." Lizzie said, trying to regain a shred of dignity. Lizzie reached out to shake her hand, only for her hand to be completely ignored. Lizzie awkwardly pulled her hand back to her side. Brutal.

"I know. Mr. Fitzy told me about you." Lizzie almost snorted out loud at her boss's new nickname. Mr. Fitzy was in so much trouble.

"What has _Mr. Fitzy_ told you, Katie?"

"I heard Mr. Fitzy say to another nurse that Dr. Darcy had a crush on you. But he can't have a crush on you because he is going to marry my sister, Annie!"

Lizzie's eyes widened at the mention of Annie, Darcy's recently admitted pediatrics patient. From what Lizzie had heard, Annie and her twin sister, Katie, had won the floor over with Annie's shyness and Katie's antics. Lizzie had hoped to meet the two eight-year-olds under better circumstances, but she still found this situation extremely endearing, if not a bit (a lot) uncomfortable.

"Miss Katie, if Dr. Darcy is going to marry your sister Annie, then it would be very ungentlemanly for him to have a crush on me, right? Dr. Darcy is not that kind of man. Wouldn't you and Annie agree?"

Katie's eyes narrowed as she glared at Lizzie while contemplating the idea. "You are right. Dr. Darcy is the best doctor in the universe. He would never do that to Annie." She sniffed, turning her nose up at Lizzie, before running off without another word. Apparently, Lizzie had been dismissed. Lizzie stared after Katie in amazement. Somehow she had survived that relatively unscathed?

 _I hear congratulations are in order._ Lizzie texted Darcy as she made her way back to her office, laughing quietly to herself at the situation she had found herself in.

 _Oh? And what of my many accomplishments are you speaking of, Miss Bennett?_ Darcy responded within seconds. Lizzie snorted. He was such an ass sometimes.

 _Your impending nuptials._

 _What on earth are you talking about?_ Her phone pinged almost immediately.

 _I had a very interesting conversation with a little girl named Katie today…_

After waiting several minutes for a response, Lizzie turned back to her work. He must have been called into something. It's not like he could just sit around and text her all day. Plus, Lizzie definitely had work to do as well. As she launched herself back into her work on the newest quality metrics being adopted by various departments, someone knocked at her door.

"Come in." She muttered, not taking her eyes off of the spreadsheet in front of her.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Will stared at Lizzie, who hadn't looked up from her work yet even as he entered her office. She was wearing her thick rimmed glasses, which he learned she only did when she was incredibly busy. The screen of the computer reflected off of the lenses while her brow was furrowed as she leaned closer towards her bright computer screen, staring at whatever she was working on. It was one of his favorite looks, as he could stare (in a not creepy, but let's be real, still slightly creepy way) without her noticing.

He cleared his throat to get her attention. She looked up abruptly, her glasses slipping further down her nose. "Darcy!" She exclaimed, some of her hair falling out of her loose bun.

"I figured I needed to speak with you in person to dispel any of these rumors circulating about me." Will totally could have done this over text, but he really just wanted to see her in person, especially after his impromptu visit to her office two days ago. He looked down at his own day-old scrubs and self-consciously ran his hand through his hair. He really needed to think a little bit more before randomly showing up at her office.

"Rumors?" She raised an eyebrow and peered at him from under her glasses. Will couldn't believe that this woman had said yes to going on a date with him. "So you're not _betrothed_ to Annie? Katie is going to be very upset at this development." Lizzie replied before launching into the story about their interaction.

"… and then she literally stared me down. You know I can handle my own mother, who a lot of people say is a terrifying tiger mom who managed to run a strict household with five daughters, and yet I was almost shaking in my boots today? That girl is going to run the world." Will couldn't stop laughing as Lizzie regaled him with a colorful account of her run-in with Katie.

"So what did you tell her?" Will asked.

"Tell her about what?

"About us dating."

Lizzie flushed at his straightforwardness. She rarely blushed, but damn this man for turning her world upside down. " _Technically_ , we're not dating." Lizzie responded, stone-faced.

Will raised an eyebrow, walking slowly towards her desk. "Did you not agree to go on a date with me just two days ago, Lizzie? "

" _Technically,_ we haven't been on a date yet. Therefore, _technically_ not dating."

Will frowned. "Well, no time like the present to change that technicality then. We can't have you lying to my poor patients in elementary school." Will held out his hand to pull Lizzie on her feet.

Lizzie rolled her eyes as she took his hand and grabbed her things from her desk. "Like I said, it _technically_ wasn't a lie."

"Sure, sure. My mistake, Lizzie." Will nodded, totally not convinced with mirth filling his eyes. "Let's go have our first date."


	3. Middle

**Chapter 3: Middle**

 _Last time on Kindergarten:_

 _"So what did you tell her?" Will asked._

 _"Tell her about what?_

 _"About us dating."_

 _Lizzie flushed at his straightforwardness. She rarely blushed, but damn this man for turning her world upside down. "Technically, we're not dating." Lizzie responded, stone-faced._

 _Will raised an eyebrow, walking slowly towards her desk. "Did you not agree to go on a date with me just two days ago, Lizzie? "_

 _"Technically, we haven't been on a date yet. Therefore, technically not dating."_

 _Will frowned. "Well, no time like the present to change that technicality then. We can't have you lying to my poor patients in elementary school." Will held out his hand to pull Lizzie on her feet._

 _Lizzie rolled her eyes as she took his hand and grabbed her things from her desk. "Like I said, it technically wasn't a lie."_

 _"Sure, sure. My mistake, Lizzie." Will nodded, totally not convinced with mirth filling his eyes. "Let's go have our first date."_

* * *

"Sherlock Holmes."

"No way!" Lizzie snorted. "You're telling me you dressed up as Sherlock Holmes for Halloween in middle school? You can't be serious."

"As serious as a heart attack." Will said solemnly.

"You shouldn't be allowed to use that phrase as a cardiologist."

"Oh please. My heart people coined that term. We own it."

Lizzie laughed loudly as she took in the man sitting in front of her, who still somehow happened to look incredible during an 18 hour shift. It had been a whole two days since Will (He had insisted that she stop calling him Darcy, since it had reminded him of his college shenanigans on the rowing team. Lizzie filed that away for another time.) had burst into her office on a Monday morning, confessed his undying devotion to her (okay, a little bit of exaggeration on that part), and asked her out to dinner.

Unfortunately, Lizzie had a really important meeting with the Operations Excellence department in an hour, and Will had a surgery coming up, so Will and Lizzie were having an impromptu first date in the very romantic and intimate hospital café. It was just her, Will, and about 40 other hospital employees and family members of patients who were milling about for their morning coffee and pastries.

Despite the _interesting_ circumstances surrounding their morning date, Lizzie couldn't deny that she was having a great time getting to see a side of Will that was different from the brooding, pestering, and somewhat miserable looking man that she had believed him to be.

"I'll have you know that my Sherlock Holmes costume was a huge success. I was the greatest literary detective of _all time_. I was so in character that I ran around saying 'Elementary, my dear' at school."

"Of course you did." Lizzie rolled her eyes at him. "I bet you were the most popular kid in middle school, you nerd." She drawled out sarcastically.

"You're just jealous of how much style and brilliance I already possessed at such a young age. Besides, what did you dress up as for Halloween? There's no way you can beat Sherlock Holmes."

Lizzie leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms across her chest, and looked at him smugly. "I was a hot dog."

Will sputtered as he choked on his coffee, his eyes widening comically as he attempted to expel lukewarm coffee from his lungs. "A hotdog?! You were giving me so much shit for dressing up as Sherlock Holmes and you went to school in a hotdog suit?"

"My mom was so mad at me that year because she dug out an old princess outfit from the attic. But I stomped my feet and went to my dad to demand a hot dog costume because, and I quote, 'I don't need a man to rescue me. What I do need is a hot dog.' With that logic, my father had no choice but to take me shopping for a new costume."

"You were always such a rebel, weren't you?" Will chuckled.

"And you were always such a snob, weren't you?" Lizzie asked, eyes twinkling.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"What's got Will in a such good mood? I haven't seem him like this since they announced the new Star Wars movies." Doctor Richard Fitzwilliam, better known as Fitz to everyone, remarked as leaned against the nurses' station while Lizzie did her weekly quality assessment walkthrough of each department.

Lizzie snorted as she avoided eye contact with her boss and Will's cousin. "He's always like that." Lizzie muttered as she held her tongue from asking more about Will's extreme nerdiness. People magazine failed to mention this aspect of his personality in their interview with him.

"Are you kidding? We're talking about the same William Darcy, right? Head of cardiology? Takes himself a little too seriously sometimes? Weren't you _just_ telling me how outrageous he was being in our meeting last week about the new medical record processes?"

Lizzie blushed slightly at her failed nonchalance act. Though Richard often played the part of the kooky COO, he was actually extremely perceptive and often times devious. He also gossiped like an old woman. Luckily, she was saved from responding by none other than Will Darcy himself, strolling over after speaking with one of his patients.

"If it isn't the operations dream team here to inspect my department. You're not going to find any issues here. You know I run a tight ship." Will exclaimed as he winked at Lizzie, causing her to blush. It had been a week since their first breakfast date and Lizzie and Will had managed to line up their schedules to have dinner the night before. They had decided to keep things on the DL, as there was nothing worse than the rumor mill getting involved in the beginning of a relationship. Especially when the King of Gossip was none other than Will's cousin and COO, Richard Fitzwilliam, whom Lizzie also had to work with on an almost daily basis.

Lizzie rolled her eyes, knowing fully well that their inspection would yield exactly what Will had just said. Other than a few issues here and there when Lizzie had first started, Will's department always passed her weekly inspections with flying colors. Lizzie had found it annoying initially – the way that he obnoxiously proclaimed that his department was perfect. She had interpreted it as him essentially saying that she was wasting his time and that her role was unnecessary, but now she thought maybe it was to show her that he was taking what she had said to him to heart.

Looking back now, he was always very attentive to what her department was doing. Some departments were a little slower to come around to the initiatives Lizzie had pushed for (some might even say staunchly opposed, but that was hospital politics in a nutshell), but cardiology was almost always first in line once Will had questioned the hell out of Lizzie's projects.

Usually, Lizzie tried to finish her work in cardiology as fast as possible so she could move on with her day and get away from Will. Today, she had to control the urge to nitpick at something tiny just so she could hang around a little bit longer. That seemed like something a crazy person would do, and Lizzie was the utmost professional, even if she happened to be maybe-dating her coworker.

"Everything looks perfect as per usual, Dr. Darcy." She smiled up at him, before grabbing her things from the nurses' station to move on to the next department. "Have a good day."

It was only until she had made it to Pediatrics and Fitz was called away to another meeting was she able to sneak a peek at her phone.

 _You look perfect as per usual as well, Miss Bennett._

Lizzie rolled her eyes at the cheesiness of it all, but couldn't help the smile threatening to take over her entire face. She sent over the vomiting emoji in response (her boy-crazy sister, Lydia, would have screamed at Lizzie for responding in this way to a boy).

 _You're disgusting, Darcy. Lay off the cheese._

 _Disgustingly perfect, you mean._

Disgustingly perfect, indeed.

* * *

 _A/N: Thanks for the read! Please leave a review and let me know what you think. :)_


	4. High School

_A/N: What's high school without a little drama? :)_

* * *

 **Chapter 3: High School**

Lizzie brusquely pushed her way through the building as she cursed loudly in her own head at the way that her day at started. It was one of those mornings – Lizzie's coffee machine had broken and she still hadn't managed to have her first cup of coffee, aggravated by the fact that she had been stuck on the subway for 30 minutes as the train stalled, claiming that there was "train traffic ahead." Lizzie had been unable to send a text to her team telling them that she would be late to their sustainability meeting due to the feeble phone signal she had while on the train. The only that she had been able to load before her signal sputtered out in depths of the New York subway tunnels was a lengthy email from her mother about someone who had gone to Lizzie's high school who had gotten married, and how she should think about settling down soon.

She arrived at their meeting slightly flustered and extremely apologetic. Sustainability was one of her pet projects, and though everyone in New York was well aware of the unreliability of the New York subway, she couldn't help but feel like the terrible start to her day and her meeting was some sort of omen for the day to come.

The meeting ended up going smoothly despite her late arrival – the hospital board had agreed to most of her suggestions after she and her team had carefully projected out both the cost savings and the reduction in their carbon footprint of switching over to more green processes. After agreeing to meet with her team in 15 minutes, her mind quickly pivoted to a singular goal – get coffee as soon as possible. She briefly marveled at how she was able to keep her composure and string sentences together in her last meeting as she speed walked to the hospital café, smiling vaguely to familiar faces while not really processing who they were. While she yearned for a latte from her favorite coffee place close by, she needed to get back to her office and check her emails before her meeting.

As she took her first sip from her steaming cup of coffee after waiting not-so-patiently in line, the world started to finally come more into focus. If she were a doctor or a nurse, she might have been concerned about her crippling dependence on coffee. She looked around the café as her brain slowly started to process her surroundings once again and noticed a familiar voice drifting over to where she was standing. She saw Will standing a few feet away from her with his back turned, hair slightly disheveled from a long shift, and speaking with Fitz.

She intended to move towards them to say hi, as she hadn't seen Will the past couple of days as he had been away at a conference, except something in their body language made her stop in her tracks.

"I'm not interested in Lizzie, Fitz." The gruff Will responded to an unheard question from Fitz. "You can keep digging as much as you want, but whatever you think you see between us is all in your head. I admire her intelligence, but that is where my interest in her stops. I could not be more indifferent about her."

Upon hearing that, Lizzie turned abruptly, eager to get away without being noticed and trying her hardest to brush away the sinking feeling in her stomach. They had mutually discussed keeping quiet about their dates, but hearing him talk about her in that way in front of her boss felt like a slap in the face.

It was the cherry on top of a shit sundae of a day that she was having.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Lizzie groaned as she brushed off another phone call from Darcy, claiming that she was in a meeting and was too busy to call him back afterwards.

It was partially the truth – she had excitedly signed up to help plan this year's Halloween party a couple months ago, since Halloween was one of her favorite holidays. The hospital threw parties throughout the year to help some of their more long-term patients regain a sense of normalcy in their lives. The party planning committee (the name they called themselves, inspired by the Office) had already decorated the halls of the hospital and were coordinating the transformation of the hospital café into a haunted house. While Lizzie's excitement for the party had been dulled by the recent developments of her non-relationship with William Darcy, she was extremely grateful for the distraction it presented, as well as the excuse that it gave her to dodge his presence given that the party was happening tomorrow.

She knew she was being ridiculous – she was a grown woman who was actively avoiding her office because she knew that was the easiest place for her to get cornered by him, as if she had reverted back to high school Lizzie and was hiding from her high school nemesis. She didn't want to confront him – she was angry, hurt, and bewildered by what she had heard him say two days ago. She certainly did not expect him to outright admit to Fitz that he was seeing her, but the words that he had said about her and the detached tone of his voice made it seem less and less like he was trying to throw Fitz off their scent and more that he was telling the truth. No one was that good of an actor.

She shoved her phone back into her pocket as she opened the conference room door for her next meeting… only to come face to face with the man that she was going out of her way to avoid.

Her brain went into overdrive as she tried to figure out how she had found herself in this situation after so carefully planning her route. Calendars at the hospital were generally on private – while you could see when people were busy or available, you couldn't see exactly what was keeping them busy. Darcy should not have known that she was going to be in this conference room at this time. Her assistant was not the gossiping type (thank god), so she definitely would not have shared her whereabouts with him, and she would have notified Lizzie immediately of his behavior had he come around asking for her schedule.

Lizzie had arrived to the meeting 5 minutes early, as she always did for her meetings so she could fully prepare and ensure that their time in the meeting would be used efficiently. What she was definitely not prepared for was his blue eyes staring into her soul as she gaped at him through the conference room doorway.

"You're avoiding me." Straight to the point, as expected from the no-nonsense Will Darcy.

"I'm not." Lizzie muttered, her mood suddenly darkening as she glared at a spot at the conference table while she started to unpack her things for the meeting.

"I thought we were both adults here." Lizzie finally made eye contact with him, glaring at his unwelcome presence but not bothering to respond to his comment. "I really don't like playing games."

"Games? You want to talk about playing games? You're the one that decided to corner me before my meeting despite your complete and utter indifference towards me." She snarled out, feeling a bit of satisfaction at how quickly his face transformed from his usual look of disdain into shock.

Before he could respond, Lizzie continued, "Yes, I heard your little conference with Fitz. Thank you so much for your glowing review of me to _my boss_. I know he's your cousin and everything, but next time, please refrain from talking about my complete lack of interesting qualities with my superior. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to run."

Luck was smiling down on her, as at that moment the conference door opened to reveal the other participants in the meeting, saving Lizzie from anything that Darcy was going to say.

The rest of the party planning committee recovered quickly from their shock of seeing Dr. Darcy in the room. Lizzie winced when her co-lead and good friend, Charlotte, asked if he was going to attend the Halloween party. Lizzie hadn't told Charlotte yet that they had been secretly dating and she had hoped that he would forget that the party was happening and refrain from showing up.

Darcy confirmed his attendance (Lizzie groaned internally), said goodbye to the room politely, and left without looking at Lizzie again.

Lizzie certainly was not feeling very festive today.

* * *

 _A/N: Thanks for sticking with me! I've always wanted to keep this short, so I'm planning on having just one more episode. Please review and let me know what you think!_


	5. College

_A/N: I lied! I have split the last chapter into two, so will have one more chapter after this! Thanks for reading!_

* * *

 **Chapter 5: College**

The irony of the situation was not lost on Lizzie as pulled up the yellow monstrosity she was forced to buy. Lizzie had been chastised by Charlotte when Lizzie had revealed her plans of showing up to the party as a 'social media influencer' in sweatpants. An argument had ensued with Lizzie claiming all of the young kids were wearing designer sweatpants, baseball caps, and sunglasses, with Charlotte ultimately winning the fight when she pointed out that Lizzie did not in fact own designer sweatpants, and that she was just going to show up in her ratty college sweats, put on a random baseball cap, and call it a day.

She groaned as she looked at herself in the mirror. Twelve year old Lizzie was screaming on the inside as she took in her attire for the day as freaking Belle from Beauty and the Beast. But not Belle running through the French countryside singing about her poor provincial life in a very sensible day dress – the only costume available the day of Halloween at the nearest Halloween shop that wasn't a slutty version of anything was _this_ yellow cupcake dress. When given the choice between showing up as a slutty nurse (definitely poor optics with that one) and Belle, Lizzie knew that it wasn't even a choice.

It wasn't like Lizzie had purposefully left this till the last minute. Work had gotten really busy, Lizzie had vastly underestimated the demand for sensible adult costumes, and then this whole Darcy thing had blown up in her face. So she had scrambled this morning after waking up with a splitting hangover from getting drinks with Charlotte last night (where she had spilled the beans on her pseudo-ex-relationship with Darcy) to find something in her closet that could pass for a costume.

When she had gotten to the office an hour early to meet with Charlotte to finalize the details for the day and change into their respective costumes, Charlotte had taken one look at the sad lump of clothes Lizzie had pulled out of the old plastic bag she had found in her apartment and thrown Lizzie's poorly laid plans out of the window.

"Belle? Really?" Charlotte deadpanned as Lizzie walked out of the bathroom after changing into her newly acquired costume. Unlike Lizzie, Charlotte had planned in advanced for her costume, and was currently dressed in a sensible Hogwarts uniform.

"It was either this or a slutty nurse costume."

"That certainly would have caught Dr. Darcy's interest." Charlotte whispered, wagging her eyebrows at her, poking Lizzie with her plastic wand.

Lizzie groaned, smacking her friend on the arm. "I knew I shouldn't have said anything to you."

"I'm offended that it took you so long to tell me. I thought we were friends. I told you about that time that I had food poisoning and vomited on that pharmaceutical rep when he asked me out." Charlotte sniffed.

"Everyone had heard about that by the time you told me. And you were the hospital hero for that too. Everyone hated Mr. Collins." Lizzie gave her friend the side eye, only to duck quickly into the women's bathroom again as she saw the object of her derision turn the corner, her poofy, polyester skirt rustling loudly behind her.

She had just barely managed to make it back safely into the women's bathroom when she had heard Charlotte's overly loud voice greeting Darcy.

"Dr. Darcy! What a pleasant surprise!" Charlotte's voice drifted through the bathroom door, an octave or two higher than it usually was. Any higher and only dogs would be able to hear her.

Lizzie couldn't hear Darcy's response, as he was talking at a normal human being's pitch.

"… Oh Lizzie?! No! I haven't seen her yet today! We have the Halloween party today so she is taking care of things for that! Very, very busy, our Lizzie!" Lizzie winced. _Charlotte was literally the world's worst actress._

More muffled speaking on his part.

"Yes great! _We_ certainly hope to see you at the party tonight, Dr. Darcy!" Lizzie almost audibly groaned at Charlotte encouraging him to show up at the party. _Add world's worst friend to the list of her accomplishments._

"Now _that_ man could be a social media influencer." Charlotte remarked as Lizzie snuck back out of the bathroom when she was sure that Darcy had left, her voice conveniently back to a normal octave.

Lizzie side eyed her friend. "What are you trying to say about me?"

"I'm saying that I would buy whatever he was trying to sell on Instagram as long as he looks at me with that smolder." Charlotte replied, waving an imaginary fan at her face as if she was flustered.

"I'm inviting Collins to this party tonight." Lizzie growled out as she balled up her clothes that she had changed out of and started to stalk away from Charlotte.

"You wouldn't dare!" Charlotte called out after her friend.

"Consider him invited! I'm calling him now!" Lizzie yelled over her shoulder, laughing loudly at her friend's protests fading away as she made her way back to the office.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

The day flew by as Lizzie and Charlotte traded texts threatening each other with various pieces of blackmail they had collected throughout their years of friendship in retaliation to Lizzie's threat of inviting Collins to the Halloween party. Lizzie was grateful for the distraction. From getting ready to the party, spending some time with the children that saw her and really believed that she was Belle, and also peeking around every corner to make sure she didn't run into Darcy, she really was becoming more and more frazzled as the day went on. By the time it was almost time for the party, Lizzie had managed to get through the day with only three close call Darcy sightings, one smashed pumpkin, and eight skeptical children (Which Lizzie still considered a win, as the fact that she was able to convince _any_ children that she was Belle was a miracle in and of itself).

 _I'm telling your mom about that boy in college that proposed to you in front of his entire frat. Your mom will be distraught that you could've been Mrs. Danny Declan Hamway the Third over a decade ago. – Charlotte_

 _I'm telling your mom that the real reason you broke your arm in college was that you tried to do a one woman keg stand despite having never done a handstand in your life. – Lizzie_

 _I'm going to tell Jane's children when they're old enough to understand me that you're actually Princess Belle but you are trying to go incognito so that you're forced to pretend to be Belle around them or face their disappointed faces. - Charlotte_

Lizzie stared at that last text in horror as she imagined the chaos that would bring into her life. Lizzie cursed herself when she noticed Fitz (dressed as a mad scientist, wild grey hair and all) and Darcy (costume-less, unless he decided to dress up as a doctor, which was decidedly not a costume) walking towards her. She had been so distracted at Charlotte's ridiculous but also terrifying threat that she failed to notice her surroundings.

"Oh ho, a princess?!" Fitz boomed at her. Lizzie groaned and glared at Fitz. "Never took you for a princess type." Lizzie thought she heard a muttered "she's not" coming from Darcy's direction, but since she was currently ignoring said person, she didn't dignify his muttered statement with a response.

"They ran out of costumes at the shop today."

"You just got your costume today? That seems unlike you." Fitz asked, twirling his fake made scientist beard around his fingers.

"I've been… distracted." Lizzie replied, refusing to make eye contact with the distraction in question.

"If you need help with something, just let me know!" Fitz responded, unaware of the tension in the room. "I know you are more than capable of handling things, but don't be afraid to ask."

"It's fine. Just a one time occurrence." At Fitz's questioning look, Lizzie continued, "Let's just say that I let my guard down and made a mistake. It won't happen again." Lizzie felt a bit of satisfaction when she saw Darcy flinch out of the corner of her eye. Unwilling to spend any more time around him, she bid a quick farewell to the pair before moving in the opposite direction towards the café.

Hopefully the fact that Darcy wasn't wearing a costume meant that he got the hint from her and was not planning on showing up to the party tonight.

Lizzie wasn't feeling that optimistic.

* * *

 _A/N: Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the last chapter :)_


	6. Commencement

**Chapter 6 - Commencement**

Will could still feel the panic in his chest when he thought back to his last encounter with Lizzie in the conference room. Cursing his amazing ability to put his foot in his mouth, his mind scrambled as he spent the hours after he got off work thinking of how he was going to fix this gigantic fuck up.

He winced as his sister's scream tore through his phone's speakers when he called her for advice and regaled her in the tales of Witless Will. He winced again when his sister laid out his stupidity in clear and concise way that only Georgiana seemed to have the ability to do. (A much more useful talent than Will's previously mentioned foot in mouth ability)

"So let me get this straight… you managed to get the WOMAN OF YOUR DREAMS to agree on a date with you barely two weeks ago, and within that short period of time you somehow managed to not only INSULT her behind her back, but also did so in front of HER BOSS."

Georgiana's eyes softened slightly at the Will's desolate face staring back at her through FaceTime. "I love you, brother, but you better talk to her as soon as you can to clear it up. Maybe do something big for her to show how serious you are."

Will groaned. What was he going to do?

"And don't even think about doing the chocolate and flowers route. From what you've told me about Lizzie the past year working with her, she will _not_ be impressed."

"Lizzie is allergic to pollen."

"See? Will, you're such a sweetheart and you clearly care a lot about her. You've haven't stopped talking about her since she started at the hospital."

Will started to protest, only to be stopped by his sister's virtual hand in front of the phone's camera. "I'm not making fun of you, Will. I'm saying that if you don't make this right, I will be so mad at you for sabotaging my future badass boss lady sister-in-law's relationship with me. Do something that you know Lizzie will appreciate. Show her that you listen to her and pay attention to her. Once you explain what happened, I'm sure she'll forgive you."

Will nodded, the beginnings of an idea forming in his mind. He didn't have a lot of time to put his plan in motion, but Will knew that it was his best shot. He needed to fix this, and he needed to do it soon.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

The party was in full swing with zero Darcy sightings. Lizzie walked around interacting with patients and family, munching distractedly on various pieces of candy she had picked up around the café.

"Lizzieee." The familiar voice of her friend came from her right. "Stop eating candy corn. You hate candy corn." Charlotte muttered through her smiling teeth as she went to grab the handful that Lizzie was currently determinedly making her way through. Lizzie glared as she pulled her hand away from her meddling friend. "Lizzie I can see you wince from across the room every time you put one in your mouth. You're scaring the children."

Lizzie couldn't argue with that. Ever since she was young she had the habit of munching nervously on things. She must have been really out of it to not even realize she was eating candy corn.

"Uh oh. Smile. SMILE. Caroline Bingley is coming over here."

Lizzie did not smile. Instead, the frown on her face grew exponentially at the mention of her brother-in-law's crazy sister.

"Lizzie, darling!" The familiar shrill voice beckoned from behind Lizzie. "Oh, hello Charlotte." Charlotte nodded politely, pretended that someone was calling her from across the room, and made her exit swiftly, leaving Lizzie on her own. Some friend she is.

Caroline Bingley and her had always been on fairly friendly terms – she was also a nurse at the hospital, and Lizzie had always respected how good she was at her job. Her personality outside of the hospital, however, leaved something to be desired. Lizzie didn't mind though; her clear obsession with Darcy meant that Caroline always dominated the conversation with Darcy that Lizzie didn't have to put in effort when they were thrown into a social setting together with Jane and Charlie. (Lizzie ignored the pang in her gut at the thought of Darcy.) It wasn't until Jane and Charlie had a child and named Lizzie as the godmother did her and Caroline's relationship take a nosedive.

She turned around to face the Caroline, who was dressed up as… Miss America?

"Bond girl." Caroline sniffed at the confused look at Lizzie's face.

"Ah. You look great, Caroline." Lizzie replied, not entirely sure why Carolyn had sought her out.

"Thank you, Lizzie." She replied, her eyes looking critically at Lizzie's Belle costume. "Are you going out with William?"

Lizzie choked on the candy corn she was chewing on. Luckily, Caroline was naturally chatty, she launched into describing the gossip that was spreading around the hospital, no doubt aided largely in part by Caroline.

"I heard that Richard talked to William about you. Asking him if he liked you. I told my friends that they were being ridiculous when they were convinced that you two were going out. I mean, William barely even talks to you when we're all hanging out together."

Lizzie grimaced, thinking about a very similar conversation she had a week ago with a rambunctious child. What a difference a week makes. "Your gossip group will be delighted to hear that Darcy is nothing more than indifferent towards me." Lizzie replied without an ounce of enthusiasm in her tone.

Satisfied with her answer, Caroline nodded at her with a smile on her face. "Of course, I knew better, Lizzie. I defended you with my friends. I will say, though, _interesting_ choice in costume." Lizzie groaned internally. Everyone seemed to have some sort of opinion on her costume. "Almost as _interesting_ as the guy in the hot dog costume." Caroline rolled her eyes dramatically.

Lizzie froze. _A hot dog costume? What were the chanc-_

"I think she looks great in her costume." A familiar voice cut through her panicked thoughts. Lizzie whirled around to come face to face with the previously mentioned hot dog man.

"William? I didn't even recognize you earlier! You look absolutely adorable!"

"Can I speak with you please?" Completely thrown off my the fact that William Darcy was standing in front of her dressed as a hot dog, all she could do was nod before he grabbed her hand to take her away from the gaping Caroline Bingley.

It was silent for a while as they reached the more secluded corner. "So a hot dog suit, huh?" Lizzie winced at her attempt at breaking the ice.

Darcy chuckled. "Just taking a page out of your book. You did say you didn't need a man to rescue you, but you did need a hot dog… so here I am. I had to bribe Jane and Charlie to help me find this so last minute."

"Oh is that why my sister has been ignoring all of my texts? She still has her read receipts on for some reason so I _knew_ she was reading them and not responding."

"I'm afraid that was my fault. Can you please forgive me?" He replied, his blue eyes staring down at her.

Lizzie stared at him, clearly getting the double meaning behind his plea for forgiveness.

"I was a complete idiot. I'm terrible at lying and so when Fitz asked me about you I just word vomited whatever came into my brain." Will continued, his fingers picking at a stray piece of string on his costume. "I know it was a horrible thing to say – even worse that I said it to my cousin and your boss. I know you probably hate me, but my sister would kill me if I didn't try to fix this. I'm so sorry for what I said. I didn't mean a single word of it. "

"You told your sister about me?" Lizzie smiled shyly.

Will blinked. This was what she got from what he just said to her?

"I thought we were keeping things quiet." Lizzie snickered at the confused look on his face. Unable to control her giggles at how ridiculous he looked in his hot dog costume, Lizzie burst out in full blown laughter. At the more serious look on his face, Lizzie's laughter stopped abruptly.

"If given the chance, Lizzie, I intend on making this last. I don't see the need to keep this quiet any longer." With that, Will leaned in, seeking permission with his eyes. She nodded slightly before he claimed her lips in a deep kiss.

Lizzie barely registered a loud, feminine screech and a triumphant and masculine "I KNEW IT" coming from somewhere else in the café.

She broke away from him abruptly as she realized they were almost making out in front of the entire hospital. "We can't do this here!" Will's eyes widened in shock and a bit of hurt. Lizzie quickly explained. "We can't let Annie and Katie see us!"

Will laughed. "I already went by and asked the two of them for permission earlier today. Turns out Annie has a bit of a crush on a boy in her class. He's an older man in the 5th grade. Very mature. Annie apologized to _me_ for having to break our engagement."

Lizzie laughed, her eyes twinkling and her heart soaring at the image of Will speaking with Annie and Katie while she was busy hiding in closets and corners to avoid him.

"You want to get out of here?" Will's eyes widening again at Lizzie willingingly playing hooky. After speaking with her obnoxiously smiling boss, who was quick to shoo the couple away with a cheeky "don't do anything I wouldn't do," the couple held hands as they walked out of the party, looking quite the pair as Princess Belle and a hot dog.

"What do you want to do? I can rescue you like you're a damsel in distress."

Lizzie rolled her eyes and smiled. "I don't need a man to rescue me. What I do need is a hot dog."

"Good thing I'm a hot dog, then."

 _Good thing, indeed._

 _The end._


End file.
